No Confidence

A letter in response to Sarah Stillman’s article (September 3, 2012)

Stillman’s piece is yet another disheartening look at our country’s treatment of low-level drug offenders. But there’s a comprehensive solution to the dangers of the current system. Yes, training and access to counsel can certainly make the informant system safer and more accountable, but these options do not address what I consider its most objectionable aspect: that mandatory sentences for low-level drug offenders allow law-enforcement officials to effectively coerce young people into accepting deals. Tough sentencing guidelines wrongfully equate nonviolent people like Rachel Hoffman, Jeremy McLean, and Shelly Hilliard with violent drug traffickers. Removing mandatory sentences for these offenses is the only way to bring justice to this system.

Jess Coleman

New York City

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